Passengers escape fire on Ambon ferry

AMBON, Maluku: Hundreds of Indonesians survived a fire which broke out Saturday aboard the passenger ship MV Simpati as it was to set sail for Buru island from Ambon.

No one was killed. The fire was most likely caused by a short circuit, Antara reported.

"We had to abandon the ship immediately after the lights went out and thick smoke came out of the engine room," Antara quoted a passenger as saying.

There were no immediate details on the number of passengers aboard or the size of the ship. Three fire trucks had to be called to the dock to extinguish flames.